I'm updating so quick because of the truck load of reviews I have recieved! So, thank you: missaeboots, teiaramogami, xonexmorexnobodyx, Jackalin Hodkinson, Icecreampopstar, Emily-twilight and Huntress of Light

~Thank you so much for the reviews guys, it means alot (:
So please, enjoy this new chapter, and I'm working on some more chapters for my lovelies.

(: Read and Review:


Raph and Mikey had rushed to their brother's side, Mikey supporting Leo's head with his hands. April and Donnie ran to Kate, Donnie resting the small girl's head on April's lap as he surveyed her neck. Splinter stood over the group he lovingly called his family, brown eyes wide and mouth opened with shock. Mikey and Raph kept trying to talk Leo back into consciousness, but they were only able to get him alive enough to speak a broken sentence.

"H-hes..back..the..The..Shredder.."

April's hands that held Kate's cheeks went cold. Emerald eyes shot opened as she tugged the younger girl a little further into her lap.

"W-what did he say?" April whispered as Donnie peered at her neck.

"He said..The Shredder's back!" Mikey squeaked, holding his head between his hands.

"No way! We were all there, we all saw wha' happened tha' night on tha' roof..." Raph tried to reason with them.

"There's no way any human could have survived that...Tant de sang.." Donnie whispered, wiping away some of the blood from around the blond girl's face.

"We're not dealing wit' any human. This is Tha' Shredder..." Raph growled, twirling his sais.

"I-If you read comic books, you'd know..The bad guy always comes back! ALWAYS! Mikey gasped, pacing in front of the window. Master Splinter raced to the bathroom, grabbed a handful of gauze and handed them to Donnie. He sighed, griping the large piece of glass in his thick fingers.

"The glass didn't sever the jugular..but there's gonna be alot of blood..we need to get them both out of here..Three..Two...One." He winced, pulling the glass out and a fountain of blood began spraying. He quickly wrapped the gauze around her neck, not so tightly as she couldn't breath. The blood wasn't seeping through the thick bandages just yet.

The hope flew out the window as the first two ninjas entered.

~Kate's POV:

I felt so sleepy and woozy. Even though my eyes were closed everything felt like it was spinning. I could feel the warm carpet underneath my body, and I could feel something mildly warm being pressed against my arm. I think it was another person-another person's arm. I could hear the faint sounds of a battle behind me, but the sounds seemed..watered down. I couldn't pry my eyes open, but I caught fleeting pieces of words every once and awhile. I felt a soft, furry hand resting on my forehead, but it was quickly jerked away.

"No!" Master Splinter shouted, the sound of something heavy falling over followed soon after.

"-get your brother and Kate down the stairs..." I heard that much, another mildly warm hand coming to rest on my cheek. Mikey? Raph? Donnie? Leo?

Leo..

All I could remember was seeing a large, green form come crashing through the window, glass raining down all around me.

"My..swords.." I heard Leo whisper, his arm was pressed against mine. He didn't sound like he was in such good shape. I heard the somewhat muted voice of Mikey before everything went silent once again. A few moments later, Leo's presence at my side vanished, and I felt myself being lifted up. I groaned a little bit, my throat was burning and felt horribly scratchy. Whoever was picking me up had skin that was cool and made me feel like I wasn't totally on fire.

"I have no clue how you found your way here. I don't trust you.." I heard Raphael growl at someone, the arms around me tightening.

"Back of. I came to help, didn't I?" I heard Casper growl. Casper? How the hell did he know we were in trouble? Thank god he came, whatever is happening doesn't sound too good. I barley noticed that I had gained just a little hearing back, but I slowly noticed that April's apartment sounded like it was being ruined. Poor April, why do such bad things happen to such nice people?

Casper started carrying me down something that felt like stairs. I heard murmurs all around me, and the sound of a door being closed.

"Nice hats!" Mikey sounded scared as he closed a door and his voice started coming closer to us. It sounded like everyone was around me in..I suppose a staircase? The only person I couldn't hear was Raph. I could barley hear Don mocking Mikey as the purple banded turtle entered the shop. It was silent for a few moments, then the sound of Donnie's surprised voice.

"Hehe..nice hats!", then the sound of a swinging blade and Donnie falling against the wall. Something then pierced the wall, right where it sounded like Donnie fell against.

"Raphie! We got trouble down here!" Donnie shouted. Wait..did Donnie just call Raph, Raphie?

"Like I don't got trouble up here?" Raphie shouted, the sounds of dropping bodies hit my ears before I went deaf again. I groaned, I want to know what's going on so badly. Why am I so tired that I can't open my eyes? Why was it so hard to move? I felt a cool hand run across my forehead, and felt air rushing around me. I felt my body being placed on one of the steps, the presence of Casper and Master Splinter were suddenly gone. I tried to calm my breathing, but my chest started to pound with anxiety.

"-Ster Splinter! They're getting worse!" I heard April cry out, but her voice sounded very fuzzy. The sounds of fighting in the shop were the first things I began to re-hear. I moaned, barley able to open one eye a little smidgen.

"Can we call a time out or something?" I heard Mikey asked, sounding winded, followed by the sound of metal smashing against the floor. I heard Casper growl, his tail smashing someone against the wall. Someone was picking me up and throwing my arm over their shoulder. I was guessing it was April, who was shouldering Leo on her other side. She was taking slow, weighted down steps. A threatening presence suddenly filled the room, and April seemed to be suddenly less weighed down. I managed to open my eyes a little, and wanted to scream. A large man with long, blond hair and a dragon tattoo was holding Leo in the air by the back lip of his shell, right behind his neck. This guy looked like Hun, the head gangster that the guys told me about before!

"Your friend doesn't look too well..Shall I put him out of his misery?" Hun asked, his voice low and terrifying.

"Leo!" Mikey screamed from behind us, but was jerked away. I growled as April screamed up at him in fury.

"Toss...me..a-at him.." I managed to whisper to the red head, who nodded. She bent down, grabbing a pot in her other had as she tossed me towards the confused gangster. I landed against his upper legs, as April tossed her pot at him. Shattered ceramic rained down as I bared my teeth and bit down. I cringed as I realized exactly where I had bitten him, as he threw Leo and howled in pain.

He ripped me off of him, a piece of his pants becoming ripped as he threw me out the window. I heard April scream as glass shattered and I smashed into the first pipe of a fire escape. I heard more screaming as I was hit by metal every so often as I fell. I eventually smashed into the unforgiving floor of the alleyway.

~.o.~

"I see her!" I heard Mikey shout, and the sound of pounding feet. I tried to moan, but all that came from my mouth was something that sounded like a whistle. I groan-whistled again, slowly pushed myself onto my elbows. I was laying on my stomach, blood and bruises covered my body. I spat out a mouthful of blood as a pair of green hands wrapped around my shoulders and rolled me over. I starred up into a pair of worried, golden eyes before I was lifted into his arms.

"Donnie! Sie sieht nicht gut aus!" Raph called somewhat nervously, and began running. He began to pick up speed, and an insufferable heat was coming from the building.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Raph was shouting as he started pumping his legs faster. I was being jousted around violently, but I could't complain. I didn't have to run like the others. I heard a big boom, and the sound of falling rubble. I turned to stare at what once was April's home, but it was just flaming rubble now. I whimpered as more explosions rocked the building, blasting some cars across the streets. We hid in an alleyway across the street, watching the destruction. Casper had mysteriously vanished, and a tall man with black hair and blue eyes had appeared.

April covered her face with her hands and began to lightly cry. The man, who was wearing a rain coat, thick gloves and a hockey mask, took her in his arms and held her against his chest. He shuddered a little, pressing his cheek against her head. Raph held me tightly in his arms, as Mikey and Donnie helped support Leo.

"Forgive me..Ms. O'Neil..but we must leave the past behind..for now if we are to have a future..Leonardo and Kate are badly injured..my children need a safe place to heal.." Master Splinter comforted the grieving woman, but was blunt about our situation. We couldn't go to my house, could we? It was only a few blocks from here, but it wasn't in the safest part of town.

"What about the lair?" Mikey asked, holding onto Leo. Donnie looked down at his younger brother sadly.

"The Shredder has a whole ninja army down in the sewers, remember? And we are in no shape to fight." Donnie grieved, clinging to Leo as well. I tried to clear my throat, it just didn't seem to be working right.

"W-wha..'bout..my..me..my..house.." I managed to whisper out, but Master Splinter shook his head.

"Thank you my child..but I believe we need to get out of the city.." He sighed, gripping his cane. April sniffed, trying to wipe away the tears. The man held her to his chest.

"Fella's..I know just the place.." He said, and began to lead us down the alleyways of the city. I tried to breath through my mouth, but the air seemed to make my throat sting worse. I had to take tiny breaths through my nose and exhale slowly through my mouth. We eventually came to a small apartment with a garage attached to it. The man, who I learned was named Casey, snuck inside for a few seconds. The next thing I know, the garage door is opening, and an old, red car pulled out, with a small trailer attached to the back.

He hoped out of the running car, holding out an aged, purple coat to April. He took a pile of blankets out from the back seat and ran back into the garage and pulled out a portable space heater.

"My grandma's farm! It's spacious and the best place for d'ese two! It's in da middle a' nowhere!" Casey seemed proud of himself as he helped April into the coat. I smiled, patting his hand as Splinter bowed to him. Donnie and Mikey started loading Leo into the trailer, Donnie turning on the portable heater. Snow slowly started coming down, so they started putting down blankets to make a warm nest.

"Thank you Mr. Jones.." Splinter bowed once more before jumping into the back of the trailer. Raph and Casey eyed each other for a few minutes before first bumping each other.

"H-hey.." I said, eyeing his hockey mask. I'd heard about him before! Casey Jones, the name finally clicked! He was the Purple Dragon hating vigilante, who probably killed a few dozen PD's. The two's attention was turned to me as I smiled.

"Y-you...hate..PD's.."

"Hell yes I do!" Casey shouted, puffing out his chest.

"Cou..could you..d-do me a favor?" I whispered, closing my eyes slowly.

"'course girly!" Casey said, putting his hand on my head.

"Can..I..Please..h-have some..mouth-wash..I..I bit Hun in the dick."

I have never heard two people laugh so hard. I reached up my shaking, blooded, burnt and bruised hand to wipe away a tear of mirth that had pooled in Raph's eye as he cackled along with Casey. He ran back inside, coming out with an unopened bottle of Listerine. Raph slowly poured some into my mouth, tilting me over so I could spit it out into the snow. Casey smiled, patting our heads and sending us to the trailer.

Donnie had found a bag of medical supplies from nowhere apparently. He was wrapping Leo's wounds and smiled as us as we entered the trailer. Raph closed and locked the metal door behind him, Mikey knocking at the wall to let Casey know we were good to go. Raph laid me down in the nest of blankets, slowly lowering himself next to me.

Leo looked horrible, his skin bruised a darker shade of green in patches. Some bruises were so dark that some patches looked black. He was covered in what looked like cuts from a few different blades. He was breathing easier now, but he certainty didn't look too healthy. He was covered in one of the thicker blankets, and the portable heater was cranked up full blast.

I shivered, smiling softly as Mikey tucked a warm blanket around my shoulders. Donnie raked over his brother's body, cleaning each wound and covering them. He sighed, wiping his slightly bloody hands off on an already bloodied cloth. He sighed, slowly scooting over to me. Raph and Mikey were wrapped up in purple sheets, leaning against the wall of the truck. Splinter sat beside Leo, wrapped in his own blanket and looked half asleep.

We must have been on the high way by this point, there was no stopping for anything that seemed like lights or stop signs. Speed gradually picked up, and the road beneath us seemed smoother. I calmed down knowing that we were out of the city. Donnie pulled the blanket away from me, causing me to whine and shiver. Mikey wiggled over closer to me, taking my wrist in his hand. Donnie started prodding at my neck, and slowly peeled off bandages that I had never noticed there.

"W-what's with...the..my..n-neck.." I whispered, watching Donnie pull off what looked like feet of blooded gauze off of my neck.

"A piece 'a glass got lodged in ya' neck when Leo bust through 'da window." Raph rolled his eye as Donnie glared at him. Donnie seemed ill-amused about Raph's lack of concern over everything that happened tonight. Everyone was on edge and had jitters except Raph. He sat calm and sarcastic while everyone else worried and panicked.

"W-where's..Casper?" I asked, clenching the blanket. I didn't notice how Raph's shoulders suddenly squared or how Mikey's grip on my wrist wavered a bit. Donnie bit the inside of his cheek as he started pulling rags out of his bag.

"He stayed back in New York. He's under the old tunnels of your house, making sure no one goes after your friends." His voice was stone cold, but I was too far into the throws of pain to notice. I just nodded my head and steeled myself for more pain.

Donnie poured some antiseptic on a clean rag, and began to dab at my neck. I hissed, trying to pull away from the sting. Mikey kept his hold on my wrist, somewhat keeping me in place.

"Ne bougez pas." Donnie said slowly, pressing one hand against my shoulder to keep me in place. He started dabbing at my neck again, and all I could do was grimace and bear it. I bit a gangster in the junk today, I can take on anything! Yeah..I kept telling myself that as I tried not to cry.

"Please Don,... please, please,...p-please! English!" I tried to laugh as he started cleaning the deepest part of the cut. He starred at the cut for a minutes, chocolate brown orbs hazy and set in concentration.

"..I'm not sure if it is deep enough that you need stitches..I'll let you off the hook..but I'll check the wound in a few days, and if it hasn't started healing, I'll stitch." Donnie warned, plucking out some clean gauze and tenderly wrapping it around my sore neck. He smiled softly, pressing his lips against his fingers before gently placing them at my neck. I blushed furiously, watching as he too blushed and turned to cleaning the wounds on my arms.

Mikey's grip on my wrist had tightened for a second. He was once glaring at Donnie, but suddenly, he smiled the biggest smile I've ever seen. It was as if the clouds had opened up for him, and he was seeing the light for the first time. He shot Donnie a look, clearing his throat. I knew what was coming, they didn't want me knowing what they were saying, so they were going to talk in some god forsaken language. I huffed, almost elbowing Donnie in the head as I yanked my arms to cross at my chest. He was rubbing burning salve against the burns on my legs, but had his attention on Mikey.

Mikey started speaking in a romance language, but didn't sound exactly like French or Spanish. As Mikey slowly began to talk, the wheels in the back of my head started to spin. Italian, they were speaking in Italian..

I know Italian.

I can't let them know that though! This could be my ultra super secret weapon!

"Perché stiamo combattendo su di lei?" Mikey asked enthusiastically, clapping his hands together. Donnie stopped rubbing the burn cream into my abused skin to give him a deadpan look. He rolled his eyes at the look of optimism in his younger brother's sky orbs. Fighting? Who are they fighting?

"Noi tutti vogliamo la stessa ragazza. Ecco perché." Donnie growled, lightly applying bandages to my skinned knees. I bit my lip as I listened on-they were all fighting over one girl? I couldn't explain my emotions as I felt my heart clench a little bit. I kept quiet, and pretend not to pay attention as the two spoke back and forth.

"Possiamo condividere." Mikey's sentence was followed my silence. Share? He wanted to share some chick?

"Mikey! Lei non è un giocattolo. Lei è un essere umano." Donnie growled back, sighing and pulling out a needle and some stitching wire. He gave me a grimace as he pointed to a small, but deep gash on the back of my leg. He'd given all the pain meds he had to Leo, but this wound wouldn't be more than 5 stitches, so I think I could handle it.

"Lo so, lo so." Mikey sighed, making Donnie freeze mid stitch.

Woah..

Donnie was slightly uncomfortable as he kept stitching me up. I swallowed thickly, watching Mikey watch the sleeping Leo and Master Splinter.

"Lei .. lei avrebbe capito." Mikey sighed, curling up beside me. Donnie wrapped up my wound up quickly. He sighed, laying down on my other side. I was still in shock, starring up at the ceiling of the truck. Apparently, what those two just said..the guys..get..kinky with some girl? The gentle sway of the trailer calmed me enough to gather up the strength to speak. Whoever she was, she was lucky to have so many awesome guys falling for her..

"Voi due non sono gli unici che parlano italiano." I whispered sarcastically and heartbroken, slowly passing off to sleep, ignoring the two turtles who shot up gasping. They starred down at me, wide eyed with blushes on their faces. I smiled, curling into the blankets and falling asleep.

k~0~k

The next time I woke up, the trailer was still rocking steadily back and forth. Leo was still asleep, as was Master Splinter and Donatello. Raph and Mikey were curled up beside me, grumbling about being cold blooded. I sniffled, rolling my head and trying to ignore the annoying throb in my neck. Raph noticed the movement I made, turning his attention to me. Even though the heater was still blasting and everything and everyone was covered in blankets, Raph and Mikey were still shivering. I smiled, trying to ignore the slight pain in my chest and the aching of my heart.

"H-hey..Sn-n-now..White..n-narcoleptic ver-rsion.. " Raph's teeth chattered, causing him to cringe when he noticed how 'weak' his sentence sounded. I smiled, biting my bottom lip, trying to hide my smirk.

"H-hey...d..dragon.." I managed to whisper out, my throat was sore and scratchy. Mikey held his finger to his lips, picking up a small cup. It was a small starbucks cup, thankfully only filled with tea. Coffee always tasted way too bitter to me, even when I added vast amounts of sugar and cream.

"Casey got you some tea at the last rest area. Donnie said for you not to talk to much, your throat got shanked pretty badly." Mikey chastised playfully, making sure the top was on securely before he wrapped my wounded hands around the hot cup. I hmm-ed, slowly sipping as I radiated in the heat. Mikey smiled as he watched me slowly sip on the hot drink, Raph glaring out the high, back windows. Mikey watched me drink, the liquid against my throat felt a little weird. My chest still hurt from the mini-heartbreak moment from before, but Mikey seems to have deleted that moment from his memory.

"Don't worry about not talking for awhile dudette, I can talk for the both of us!" Mikey shouted, pulling a red hat out of a bag and tugging it on my head. It was kind of like a beanie, but had a face and ears on it, making it look like a little red bear. There were long, braided strands that ended with big, red cotton balls at the end. I smiled, giggling softly as Mikey tugged the hat down and tied the two braided strings together under my chin. I put up a little bit of a fight, but let the orange masked turtle poke and prod at my head.

With a quick, painful stretch, I was able to sneak a peek out the window. What looked like an endless forest of leaf-barren trees and mounds of snow surrounded the road. We must have headed up north. Master Splinter twitched every so often in his sleep, his tail wrapping around Leo's arm. I smiled softly, curling against Mikey and Raph's legs as the trailer slowly slowed down. Master Splinter's tail began to twitch as the elder slowly began to wake up. Donnie woke up soon after, taking his banana off his head and re-tying it tightly. He tested Leo's temperature with his large palm, and shook his head. He clearly wasn't happy with the results.

The back of the trailer was opened, Casey stood there wearing a long winter coat, and tossed me a dark green, furred parka. I shivered, tugging on the coat . Master Splinter smiled at me softly, offering me his arm. I smiled, wrapping my arm around his as Mikey and Raph picked up Leo. Donnie was picking up the blankets and was carrying them inside. The place had some kind of old school charm.

The house wasn't painted, it was just a simple, two floor wooden home. Snow fell around us in liberal amounts, and I couldn't see any nearby houses. A large forest surrounded the house, but if I squinted I could see smoke from a chimney about a mile away to the west. Some of the wood of the house was chipped or looked rotten, the porch steps creaked loudly underneath us as Casey opened the door for us. April and I quickly dragged the dusty white sheet off the closest couch.

"Go get some wood guys!" April said, nodding to me to help her shove the dark blue couch closer to the fireplace. Donnie replaced Mikey's spot carrying Leo and raced off with Casey to find some useable fire wood. I tried to pat away as much dust as I could away as Leo was placed on the couch. I tucked in the blanket around his shoulders. April ran to the kitchen, mumbling about matches and fire fluids.

Everyone was so quiet, tending to the unconscious Leo tenderly. Raph stayed a safe distance away though, watching Donnie and I tuck him in snuggly and Master Splinter place a shaking paw on his son's forehead. A heavy set of footsteps revealed Casey's appearance, his thick arms leaden with somehow dry logs. Maybe the logs were pre-cut in the small barn I'd seen.

Casey dumped the dry logs onto the wooden floor with a thump. April was on her knees in front of the aged fireplace, playing with the panels that were closed to keep cold air from going in and warm air going out.

"Alright, so tha' place needs a little bit of fixin' up. Tha' place started goin' down afta' gramma passed away." Casey rubbed the back of his head as Mikey closed the door and danced in behind Casey.

April opened up the stoke so the smoke could leave through the chimney, a bucketful of ashes came pouring out. It burst into a cloud of ash, puffing up into the red-headed girl's face. Her eyes watered, and began coughing, along with everyone else in close range. She glared up at the large man, who held his hands up in a 'peace' pose.

"When was that? In the late Jurassic?" Mikey asked, placing the logs down onto the floor and rolling his eyes. I snorted, half coughing and half laughing. In Mikey's other hand, he held a small branch of what looked like a pine tree.

"Dude...ya live in a sewer!" Casey growled, turning to smile apologetically at April. Mikey slowly stepped towards me, presenting the small branch with a flourish.

"A tree branch for the lady! There were no flowers, so I found the first living thing I could find...besides that squirrel." Mikey said, mumbling the last part in though to himself. I smiled, taking the small branch and breathing in the scent of pine. The one thing that I loved most about wintertime was the smell of pine.

"Thank you...g-good Michelangelo." I smiled, bowing slightly to the grinning Mikey. A small groan came from the couch, the little smile Mikey had slid off his face. He bit the bottom of his lip, sighing silently and turning to watch his brother. Everyone began to close in on the sickly turtle, I frowned, sitting down on the floor by Leo's feet.

"Leo?" Donnie asked softly, but Leo settled back down, and seemed troubled, even in his sleep. April sighed, cracking her back and turned towards the kitchen.

"Casey, we need to get supplies. You mind showing Kate and me to the nearest store?" April asked, pulling on her coat. My head snapped up, Me? Why me? I couldn't go out right now, people would probably think I was some poor, abused child. April sent me a 'please don't leave me along with the neanderthal' look, so I nodded, grabbing my coat.

April conversed with Splinter and Donatello over what we needed at the store. I felt my phone vibrate in my pants pocket. My..phone? Somehow my phone had taken less damage than I had? I pulled the mobile out of my charred pocket, reading the name.

"Oh..fuck me.."

Everyone's eyes snapped to me as I slowly answered the phone. I forced myself to not stutter and to sound as normal as possible. My throat was killing me, but I suffered through it.

"Salutations comrade!" I tried to sound as cute as possible into the phone.

"Kathleen Letitia-Mebd McHugh!" Kyle shouted, I pulled the phone away from my ear he was so loud.

"Where the hell are you?" He shouted, and I heard the nervous tutting of Henry in the background.

"Ky..Ky..Remember how I told you that I made that new friend..April?" I asked, shuffling my foot. Kyle was still shouting, everyone in the room was able to hear him, I didn't even need to press the speaker button.

"YOU RAN AWAY WITH HER DIDN'T YOU?" He started shouting. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT ELOPING WITH ANYONE! BRING ME WITH YOU!"

Mikey stuffed his face into a nearby pillow to try and choke down the laughter.

"Nonononono. Stretch..uh..her whole home burned down while we were hanging out this morning..Uh..we..we're at her boy friend's grandmother's house up north..uh..I need to be with her for..mental reasons..Can you call Mrs. Meyers and tell her I'm taking all that vacation time I have saved from the last two years. I'll call you guys every day." I said in one quick breath. He sighed, I could tell he was rubbing his face.

"Do you want me to bring you some clothes or something..?" He asked..clothes did sound good. I turned to Raph, who shook his head and began to whisper.

'Tha' foot might be watchin' yer house. Tell him ta send ya clothes in an unlabeled box, no return address."

I nodded, repeating that to Kyle who accepted the strange request.

"Katie..Please be careful whatever you're doing up there.." I said after I gave him the address. I sighed, biting the bottom of my lip.

"Of course Stretch."

"I'll send you some warm clothes..phone charger, the good stuff. Please be careful Katie."

I smiled, nodding softly.

"Of course Stretch." I repeated, buttoning my coat as I noticed the somewhat long list held in April's hand.

"Don't sass me! Henry has to go do some crap, says he'll call you tomorrow."

"Of course not Stretch, alright Stretch."

He sighed, clearly growing irritated, but knew I was only playing around. We hung up after a simple goodbye, and I pulled up the hood of the coat. Casey had fled outside to unhitch the trailer so we wouldn't have to drag it behind us to the store. We said goodbye to the guys and began walking out to the car. April elbowed me softly in the ribs, a playful scowl on her face.

"That ape isn't my boyfriend."

I laughed, getting into the backseat of the car. Casey pulled away from the farm house, and started down the snowy road. I pressed my cheek against the window, my throat throbbing worse after talking so much. I would defiantly need some kind of throat soother, thank god I brought my wristlet-wallet with me over to Aprils, attached to my pants. Otherwise, I would have lost it and have to piggyback off April for food.

The twenty minute ride was silent until Casey turned on the radio to a heavy metal station. April groaned, turning the volume down slightly and changing it to a rock station. Casey, now annoyed, blasted the volume and turned the station back to his heavy metal. I moaned, covering my head with my hood and tightening it, trying to drown out the range of annoying sounds and the bickering 'couple'.

We pulled into a grocery store, April ripping the long list into three parts, stuffing one piece into Casey's chest and kindly handing me my shortened list. We planned to meet up when we were all done in the magazine isle. My list was simple: eggs, bandaids, milk, potatoes, matches, water, pasta and pasta sauces. I grabbed a cart, jumping on the bottom and rode it like a little kid down the isles.

I grabbed the biggest pack of bandaids that I could find, mulling over random thoughts. The image of a neon yellow lizard-man or a gorgeous tanned, orange eyed man flashed through my head. How was Casper? I remember him holding me, and heard him fighting, but how was he now? Was he hurt? He was obviously well enough to be left in the City, but how well was well? A fresh wave of pain flushed over my chest.

I headed towards the water, grabbing a few crates of 24 bottle packages. I couldn't help but remember listening on Mikey's and Donnie's italian conversation..my heart just hurt too bad to go there right now. I just had to push my annoying (and somewhat super confusing) heartache to the back corners of my mind. Why did my chest hurt so bad when they said they both liked and were considering 'sharing' this girl. Was I sickened by the fact?

...No, not really.

It was more..jealously and even more heartbreak. I sighed, grabbing a few bags of potatoes and snatching up whatever else I needed. I headed towards the medicine isle, grabbing some throat soothers and heading towards the magazine isle. Casey was already waiting their, his cart filled with random food stuffs and more blankets.

They sold blankets here?

April came strolling around the bend, cart filled with medicines and more food. Happily noting that we were all set, she declared that each of us would purchase whatever was in our carts. She strode towards the check out, humming a tune and leaving Casey and I in the dust. Casey shuffled his feet for a moment, clutching his hands tightly.

"Uh..Katie.."

I looked up at the blue eyed man, who refused to meet my gaze.

"There's anotha' reason I was all ready ta' head out ta' my grammas.." He murmured, tugging at his gloves. Whatever he had to tell me was something he didn't want April knowing. I smelled the stank of male pride. He took a deep breath, and just let it out.

"I-I got evicted. I mean..playing vigilante doesn't pay too good.." He said, ashamed as he looked down at the cart. I nodded, taking my groceries and stuffing them into his cart. I lightly shoved him aside, taking all of our items to the checkout. He sputtered behind me, earning strange looks and glares. After all, how would it look? A large man sputtering at a bruised and beaten, small girl.

"Casey..You're family...t-to the guy..y-s, ...so you're...f-f-family to me...You're having a...a rough time, everyone goes through... them. I got these,...a-and we'll kee-ep..this to-o...o-ourselves. You'll get...back on...y-your toes soon." I smiled, patting his elbow gently as he starred down at me. A shakey, almost watery smile crossed his face as he patted my head softly. Casey really was a big softie.

We met back up with April on the way out and stuffed all our bags into the trunk and backseat. I was stuck in the back again, getting close and personal with bags of over the counter pain meds and too many bottles of heavy water. There was no fighting on the way home, a soft rock station turned on as a compromise.

We rolled up to the house, the lights were all on and somehow in the hour and a half we were gone, the house began to look more like a home.


FRENCH:

*Tant de sang: so much blood.
* Ne bougez pas: Do not move.

ITALIAN:
*Perché stiamo combattendo su di lei: Why are we fighting over her?
*Noi tutti vogliamo la stessa ragazza. Ecco perché.: We all want the same girl. That's why.
*Possiamo condividere: We can share
*Lei non è un giocattolo. Lei è un essere umano: She is not a toy, she is a human being!
*Lo so, lo so: I know, I know.
* Lei .. lei avrebbe capito: You..She would understand.
* Voi due non sono gli unici che parlano italiano.: You two aren't the only ones who speak italian..

GERMAN:

*Sie sieht nicht gut aus: she doesn't look good.